The arrest of Erion Veliaj, a 'touchstone' for the credibility of SPAK

Within a short time, public trust in the Special Prosecution Office increased by 10 points, suggests the Barometer conducted by Datacentrum for Euronews Albania, an increase that the survey authors link to the arrest of Tirana Mayor Erion Veliaj.

According to the Barometer published on Wednesday with a random sampling across the country and 1,600 face-to-face interviews, 52.1 percent of respondents showed trust in SPAK, up from 42.2 percent according to the barometer conducted in January of this year.

While the question of how they assessed the work of this structure was answered positively by 70.7 percent of respondents, placing SPAK at the top of the institutions in which Albanians have the most trust.

The survey was conducted on the topic "Trust in institutions - SPAK work evaluation" and according to Blendi Çeka from Datacentrum, the aim was to measure how the arrest of Mayor Veliaj had affected trust in this justice structure.

"This is an extraordinary and important fact in political discourse," said Çeka, adding that the barometer asks the same questions every 2 and a half years to understand the evolution and mood of society in relation to SPAK.

"This time it has been the fastest and largest increase, because there has been a 10-point increase in every indicator," he added, comparing it to a slight increase in previous surveys.

Çeka believes that Veliaj's arrest was a turning point and a strong indicator of this change. He also believes that Prime Minister Edi Rama's attacks on SPAK after Veliaj's arrest have affected voters' perception of the Socialist Party, reducing their trust in this structure by 7 points, from 83% to 74.9%.

On the other hand, the findings suggest that DP voters increased their positive assessment by 28% from January to February.

Rama and the majority's stance has fluctuated sharply in the two weeks since Veliaj's arrest. Rama began with direct attacks on the prosecutor and judge in Veliaj's case, only to soften with what he calls "constructive criticism" and declarations of respect for the SPAK head's work on Thursday.

Even for political analysts, the arrest of the mayor of Tirana has increased credibility towards the Special Prosecution Office.

“This was considered proof of SPAK’s independence,” Fatos Lubonja tells BIRN, suggesting that there is an attempt to increase SPAK’s independence.

"…And we are at a point where either this independence will grow and be strengthened, or it will be eliminated and taken under control by the majority, because it has the power," he added.

Lubonja believes that the behavior of political leaders has also contributed to the increase in credibility.

"Rama's first wild reaction and a statement by Berisha that SPAK 'has gone out of control' had an impact, which seemed to be a wink to Rama that we would wipe out SPAK," he said.

For Lubonja, there is a contradiction in the opposition's stance towards SPAK, because according to him, "on the one hand, it bases its political war on several arrests that SPAK has made, but on the other hand, the problem remains that this structure has been used to eliminate opposition leaders."

According to Lubonja, both of these hold true and in his view, "SPAK has a relative independence that is probably related to the greater accountability of some individuals there."

Socialist Party voters continue to have confidence in SPAK after the arrest of the person considered the party's number two and Rama's successor, but the survey shows that trust has declined from January to February.

According to Arbër Hitaj, a journalist for Report.tv, this decline is generally related to SPAK's lack of influence in the opposition ranks.

"The failure to legally prosecute any exponent of the former government before 2013 to the extent that the left is being prosecuted has affected the decrease in credibility on the left," said Hitaj, while raising questions about how this great public credibility affects the work of SPAK itself.

"Polls show that there is an approach to collective justice that is satisfied with arrests and this is to some extent justifiable, justice has been lacking for years. But has this belief turned into greater pressure and zeal on the part of SPAK investigators to bypass procedures and feed this desire," Hitaj asks, while answering: "yes, the signs are clear."

Despite the arrest for corruption of former President Ilir Meta and the investigation of former Prime Minister Sali Berisha, Hitaj claims that “it is problematic” that SPAK’s work does not extend beyond 2013, when the Socialist Party came to power. He also emphasizes that beyond political parties, SPAK should not be influenced by public opinion.

"I think SPAK should be cool to the pressure of public opinion and politics," he concluded./ BIRN